USED TO: when and how to use it

18th June 2017

Many students often get confused about the use of used to, but we have such wonderful teachers to help you. By reading this article you will learn when and how to use the structure “used to”. Look at our examples. You will be an expert before you know it.

‘used to + infinitive’

We use ‘used to’ to talk about things that happened repeatedly in the past – actions or states – that do not happen now.

Dave used to live in Spain. Now he lives in the UK.

Dave used to live in Spain = he lived in Spain before but he doesn’t live there now.

You can say I used to work …/ she used to have…/they used to be …etc.:

When I was a child, I used to like chocolate, but now it makes me feel sick

I used to read a lot of books but I don’t read much these days.

Liz has got short hair but it used to be very long.

They used to live in the same street as us, but they don’t live here anymore.

The negative is I didn’t use to..

When I was I child I didn’t use to like tomatoes, but now I love them.

The question is did you use to..?

Where did you use to live before you came here?

We use used to …only for a past situation that is not true now.

For more Study Tips, you can read our Study Tips posts.